TORONTO — It is a curious thing to watch the Toronto Raptors win a playoff game the night after the Toronto Maple Leafs did the same thing.

In the latter case, the result brought unbridled exultation, the kind of joy that should be expected when cheering for a team that is doing things it is really not supposed to be doing.

And in the former, when the Raptors survived a tense Game 2 against the Milwaukee Bucks to even their series, the result brought something quite different. Relief, for one. But also some tugging-at-the-collar anxiousness. The Raptors are also doing things they are really not supposed to be doing, but not in a good way.

An analyst on EPSN Radio in the U.S. was asked before Game 2 for his biggest surprise in the early part of the NBA playoffs, and he didn’t hesitate to name Toronto, even though these have been a playoffs where the top-seeded Boston Celtics dropped their opener — at the time of the interview, they hadn’t yet dropped Game 2 — and the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers looked, at the least, vulnerable as they eked out close wins.

But the Toronto start was a surprise, because even though it marked the fourth straight year in which the Raptors dropped a series opener at home, this time it came after the basketball world had spent a couple of months warming up to the idea of Toronto as a threat to Cleveland in the East thanks to president Masai Ujiri’s late-season trades.

Instead, more of the same. Kyle Lowry was lost, again, and a decidedly weaker opponent had once more stolen away Toronto’s home-court advantage. Bring on the flop sweats.

Tuesday night’s 106-100 win went some way to easing those tensions, but only a little. The comparison to the Leafs is again instructive. Where the hockey team is just getting started, with a very young lineup that will be good for a long time, their corporate cousins are now in their fourth playoffs and still trying to prove how good they can be.

If you will excuse the tortured poker analogy, the Leafs are playing with house money and the Raptors are still trying to show they belong at the high-stakes table. As they head to Milwaukee for Game 3, they are playing for the right to be taken seriously.

There’s every reason to believe they will do just that. Lowry found his shot in Game 2, and the team as a whole reacted better to Milwaukee’s aggressive pressure. It is basic stuff: pass out of the double team, keep the ball moving, take the open shot. Not for nothing did Toronto’s shooting percentage jump from 36% in the opener to better than 48% in the second game — with the three-point percentage soaring from 21% to a gaudy 48%.

The lineups that coach Dwane Casey can now deploy are simply able to do a lot of different things, and almost on his own on Tuesday night Serge Ibaka provided the kind of interior defence that this contingent of Raptors has never had. It is also worth noting that Toronto is sorting a lot of this out on the fly, after Lowry went down with an injury right as Ibaka and P.J. Tucker arrived.

Casey’s starting lineup in these playoffs — Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, DeMarre Carroll, Ibaka and Jonas Valanciunas — had played 39 minutes and 46 seconds together before the Milwaukee series began.

As a point of comparison, the lineup of Lowry, Cory Joseph, Terrence Ross, Patrick Patterson and Lucas Nogueira played 198:49 together; one of those guys is presently nailed to the bench and another was traded two months ago.

It is understandable that they are still learning each other’s tendencies, but that curve had better be short and steep, because an inability to put away a young Bucks team will reignite the same questions that dogged the Raptors at this point last year.

This space recently argued that it was folly to consider a post-Lowry Raptors roster, and that hasn’t changed if only because he is still their best player and they are a veteran team that still has to be built around someone. The Bucks, as it happens, are a good example of going the other way: a 22-year-old future MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo and a whack of players who are no older than 26.

Given a blank canvas, Ujiri would rather build a roster around Antetokounmpo than anyone on the Raptors, but his canvas is far from blank. At the trade deadline, it seemed like he might even have assembled something that had the look of a contender.

And maybe he did. He said at the time that Lowry, DeRozan and colleagues had earned the chance to try to do something special. They have wobbled, but so did Cleveland, and especially Boston. That chance is still there for the Raptors. Now all they have to do is take it.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Share

Toronto Raptors set flight for Milwaukee to play for the right to be taken seriously

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.